PIG'S trotters have gone from poor man's favourite to gourmet dish of the moment. Supermarkets say they are flying off the shelves, and one restaurant sold out of nearly a month's supply in a week when it put them on the menu.

The huge demand reflects a recession-led revival of cheap meat recipes, with sales of offal and lesser-known cuts soaring. Waitrose reported hundreds of trotters being sold since they were introduced last year in stores in the capital.

Last week its sales of diced beef skirt (a muscle near the diaphragm) were nine times higher than a year ago. It is selling 255 per cent more ox cheek, 79 per cent more beef leg and 45 per cent more feather steaks (a beef shoulder cut).

Sales of pork belly - championed by chefs such as Jamie Oliver - are up 61 per cent on last year, while sales of shoulder joints suitable for slow cooking are up 21 per cent. More than 45,000 pig's cheeks have been sold since last year.

Meat buyer Andy Boulton said: "These cuts make a little meat go a long way. Most people feel they lack the time or skills to cook anything other than fillet or breast, but popping several ingredients in a pot and leaving it for a few hours is one of the simplest ways."

At Pierre Koffmann's "pop-up" restaurant on top of Selfridges, diners devoured the monthly stock of 500 trotters in less than a week. An extra 1,000 had to be delivered.

Trevor Gulliver, business partner at St John restaurant in Farringdon, praised "nose-to-tail eating", adding: "If you kill an animal, you should use it all." Tim Wilson, owner of London butcher The Ginger Pig, said: "We're seeing more and more young foodies buying trotters."